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Iduno
I've started running a somewhat Mohawk game for 3 (now 4) players who haven't role-played SR before (I'm GM, because I've go the books and slightly more playtime). Each game is one month in-game time, but we game about once a week. They mostly let me get away with making mistakes, and I mostly do as well.

The players:
Trinket Jammer: A dwarven chaos mage with Artificer as a mentor spirit. Was originally a Wiccan (which gave me my plan for a seasonal theme/feeling for each run based on the nearest Wiccan holiday), but changed early. Came from a university background. Uses shape metal and artisan:sculpture skill to get in good with people who prefer technology to magic.
Sam the Samurai/Face: An elf who would prefer to shoot things, but is getting into being the party face. Not much character background, due to the player's paranoia/laziness.
Plex Reset the Decker/Rigger: Dwarf from a moderately wealthy background. Found out cheating was more interesting and more profitable during university, until he was disowned when he got caught. Drives the party van.

December 2071:
The first run was fairly simple, to allow us to get a good grip on the rules and what the characters could do. They were hired by another group of runners working with the same fixer to assist in a run. They were to keep Crash Cart ambulances from reaching the Gates Casino, but allow Doc Wagon ambulances through. Luckily, it's a busy time of year, and there shouldn't be that many. They briefly considered buying a LAW (this will be a recurring theme), but did not do so. Probably for the best, even the Star can't ignore rockets on the interstate in nice neighborhoods. They have to keep them away for 1/2 to 1 hour, depending on how well the other team's decker does at suppressing alarms.

The team immediately starts planning, and asking more questions about what they learned from the Johnson. They come up with quite ways of disabling vehicles (accident power, using shape metal, drive by shooting, decking and hitting the brakes at speed, etc.), and decide to do the ones that will draw the least attention first. Then they look up the ambulance stations who will be responding, and figure out the two highways they need to cover. The decker got a lucky roll (and the opposition glitched) while trying to get into Crash Cart's radios, so they were able to listen in without being noticed for the full hour. They choose one to patrol in the van, while the astrally-projecting mage and air spirit take the other side. I slowly ratchet up the opposition until they're barely succeeding, which happens to be almost the length of time they needed to stop the ambulances for. Then they heard there was going to be a final attempt with HRT leading the charge. The HRT vehicle was tricked out, and had a mage to foil some of their tricks. They took out the ambulances following first, then used up the last spirit service on an Engulf attempt. The Sam took out the drones. The HRT team rolled well, regaining control after taking out a truck, then started following the runners' van. I expected a showdown, but the mage projected into the HRT vehicle, and dropped a high-force stunball at her own feet. They all got home safely, and were able to rest up.
Sendaz
Nice lineup of characters. smile.gif


QUOTE (Iduno @ Aug 14 2017, 06:27 PM) *
They briefly considered buying a LAW (this will be a recurring theme), but did not do so.
Hehehehehehe

QUOTE
Then they heard there was going to be a final attempt with HRT leading the charge.
The HRT vehicle was tricked out, and had a mage to foil some of their tricks.
They took out the ambulances following first, then used up the last spirit service on an Engulf attempt. The Sam took out the drones.
The HRT team rolled well, regaining control after taking out a truck, then started following the runners' van.
I expected a showdown, but the mage projected into the HRT vehicle, and dropped a high-force stunball at her own feet.
They all got home safely, and were able to rest up.
Except the stunball from a projecting character only affect those astrally active, even if manifesting, so maybe if the mage was dual-natured or astral perceiving at the time, but it wouldn't have affected the rest of the HRT team.
Or did they drop out of pursuit once their own mage went down?


This one has been danced around for ages.
http://forums.shadowruntabletop.com/index.php?topic=1294.0
Iduno
QUOTE (Sendaz @ Aug 14 2017, 05:51 PM) *
Except the stunball from a projecting character only affect those astrally active, even if manifesting, so maybe if the mage was dual-natured or astral perceiving at the time, but it wouldn't have affected the rest of the HRT team.
Or did they drop out of pursuit once their own mage went down?


Yeah, we checked the rules later, and I'd screwed up. Manifesting does not work like that.
Iduno
I write up a half page news thing each week, to give the players a reminder of what happened last session and/or give the players information on the sixth world, and buy myself time to get everything set up for the week. I write it in notepad, so the spelling and grammar aren't checked. I let the players know that they aren't actually being chased, because Doc Wagon "helped" with the investigation, and they didn't leave much for evidence (only the astral impression of the force 10-ish stunball wasn't cleaned up, and that was in a busy area).

[ Spoiler ]


January 2072:
This run was a lot of running around for the Cascade Orks, so I could get a better idea of the types of runs the players liked, and how they react to being put in different situations.

The team received the call from their fixer, met with an ork contact across the street from the Big Rhino who greeted "the two of you." The players picked up on it, but were unsure if he was saying the two dwarves count as one person, or the elf didn't (I hadn't really decided either). He was friendly other than that, so no problem. The contact told them to meet in a week at a warehouse on the edge of town to pick up the load they'd be delivering, and the hovertruck they'd be taking. They were also told to pack for a week-long "vacation" to the Cascades. They did so, the stealth on the hovertruck was more effective than I expected (I wanted it to be fairly easy, but -large number to perception dice pools is a big deal). Through the woods and over the minefield (hovertruck!) they go to the pick-up point, where a t-bird meets them.

At the camp, I describe the buildings they're living in as a mixture of technology and eco-friendly/slightly impoverished (pre-built buildings with solar panels, nanohives making ancient artifacts, a bear lodge for the town shaman, people dressed in "traditional" garb heading to the town set up for tourists to get the "real deal" native experience...). They're met by the shaman, and told about a few jobs that need doing while they're there.
• Release captured team from a holding station along the road. May also pick up impounded contraband from the evidence vault (but that’s against the clock, and will likely have backup teams moving in
• Take out an autonomous radar/drone station: fast hit, some combat, destroy electronics, leave a kudzu bomb to prevent repairs
• Take out a patrol: combat with ground troops + drones
• Help with repairs (planes, drones, gambling machines, cars, etc)
• Sabotage/Capture equipment from base: very fast hover vehicles, drones, weapons
• Capture equipment from patrols: less gain, more likely combat, but less combat. Hit and runs, or deck/rigger focused

This week's twist is the rating 10 jammer on the hovertruck. Very effective at blocking alarms from the holding station, but the decker had "difficulties" getting the wireless computer to open doors once they got inside. The team moved quickly, used night-time and surprise to their advantage, and got out before back-up arrived every time (except the last time, where they intentionally ambushed the border patrol to steal the vehicle). The mage got to impress with her knowledge of technology, sculpture skills, and the shape metal spell. Excellent combination for making repair/replacement parts out in the wilderness. The difficult mini-run was the autonomous radar/drone station. Lots of drones means the sam took a huge penalty to dodge. Luckily, the kudzu bomb makes blood in the dirt un-recoverable. There was only one driver (we play in a game store, so I've got a car thief/melee adept statted up in case a walk-in wants to learn), so recovering a second vehicle was interesting. Luckily, the sam has enough reaction to avoid crashing in low-stress driving situations. Overall, I was happy with the mix of combat, planning, and non-combat actions. The team did well in all situations, but I was disappointed in my own preparation for the run. The team made some money, the rigger stole a Doberman drone, and hopefully I learned something.
Iduno
Getting caught up to the present.

[ Spoiler ]

The run information is in this post.
Iduno
The third run, finding a musician in the Ork Underground, was also where our 4th player joined.

Boost: A troll melee adept/car thief. Shrugs off bullets, and talks like Vin Diesel. Useful as a second driver so the rigger can use hacking abilities, and a second fighter so the sam doesn't bleed out.

I couldn't think of anything interesting as a follow-up from the previous run, so straight to the new one. The game store was unavailable this week, so we met in a bar. Fitting enough for Shadowrun, but I tried to keep it short.

March 2072:
This week's run involves our first character background: Plex Reset the decker/rigger. He receives a call from the acquaintance from college who first paid him to "fix" some grades: Eric Bush, grandson of the politician whose career was ruined by the Iran-Contra affair. I played Eric as a more malevolent Mr. Magoo (Oblivious, but things work out).

Eric contacted Plex directly, and had him meet at a small gambling den run by some nice Japanese gentlemen. Weapons are checked at the door by pat-down, which ruffles some feathers, but almost everyone complies. Boost has Trinket Jammer turn him invisible, so he can sneak in and keep his sword (stashed in the coat closet). Anyone with weapons small enough to hide hand them over, and the decker wears the hat with a head jammer in it.

Eric warns the runners not to win too much, but to go have fun. Trinket Jammer and Boost are the only two who decide to gamble. Trinket Jammer wins a small amount through luck, and Boost uses sleight-of-hand to win more (beating perception, and quitting before suspicions got too high). During the fun, Plex and Sam inquire about the job. They are to "put a bacteria in the computer" in the basement of the gambling den they are currently in, to remove blackmail material they have on him. Eric will provide a distraction to let them get downstairs, hopefully unnoticed. They players are nervous, and ask about the time table. Eric, unaware that planning usually goes into this sort of thing, looks at the time on him comlink and says "your friends should probably go cash in their chips." Preparations at my table don't ever involve buying anything, but not having the opportunity to plan or buy anything didn't go over well (at least they hate him, not me. I've got the smartass players I deserve).

I enjoyed Eric much more than the players did, and I probably don't get to use him again. Other GMs, please enjoy.

As promised, the distraction appeared with all of the subtlety you'd expect from someone who gets by on luck rather than thinking: A van drove through the front of the casino. The team sneaks down the stairs, with a glitch by Plex meaning he left the jammer hat on a plant near the door. The Yakuza had enough to worry about with patrons running away during the firefight, and nothing comes of it. In the basement, the players acquire new guns from guards who tried to stop them (unarmed, stunballs, and a troll with a big sword), and got to use them on the Yakuza who were running to the stairs to help fight off the distraction. The runners peak around the corner into the final room to see a large computer set-up, and a meditating old man with a stick.

The old man summons a spirit of man dressed like a samurai, and he and the troll duel. The machine pistols the runners picked up aren't enough to injure the spirit, Boost is slowly chipping away, but the spirit is unable to do any damage. It turns out a spirit of man is designed for defense. Luckily, spirits are less interested in fighting for a dead old man. Plex has some bad rolls attempting to hack into the computer system, and the impatient sam "assists" with disabling it. The cameras in the casino no longer have anyone left alive to monitor them, there's no longer a computer recording the data on the cameras, and the blackmail material is unrecoverable. The runners return upstairs, the decker puts the jammer hat back on, and they go to retrieve their gear from what's left of the entrance like nothing's going on. Once again, our protagonists wander away into the sunset.
Iduno
Follow-up from the Casino Run
[ Spoiler ]

April 2072 - In which Iduno's players create their own fun
This is my most current, most complicated to set up, and favorite run so far. I prepared An exec, a bodyguard, and 2 other surprise characters. Also, 3 agendas (posted in spoilers in the story, with the GM's version at the end), two of which I printed out for when the players needed them. Then I just let things unfold (despite my players' concern that I'm going to change the run halfway through just to make things more difficult. 1. I'm too lazy/believe in fair play and 2. they'll make it difficult enough).

As usual, the Johnson lays the run to the best of their knowledge:
[ Spoiler ]

The players had about 3 weeks to work with to plan and scout. They planned to meet the Exec outside of the Ares terminal at SeaTac, and either get her agenda from the commlink or taking her and the rental car, as the situation allowed. They also (after a drug knowledge check) realized Laes would be useful for wiping the Exec's memories to get the bonus, and picked up 10 doses, just in case. Also, as usual, there is a twist to the run. While waiting, they noticed two women matching the description and picture they were given, each with a cybered ork bodyguard. Ares sent a body double. Plex, the decker, made a check to find their commlinks while they were picking up their luggage, and found 3 commlinks for the 2 otherwise identical suits, one of which is running in hidden mode (Plex has the dice to average 5 hits, so I correctly expected the 4 hits to find a hidden mode commlink should be do-able). He grabbed the encrypted agenda from the hidden commlink, but did not have a defuse program to get the (otherwise un-encrypted) agenda from the public commlinks. He did not stay around to pick up clues from email or the calendar reminder, because there was IC in the hidden commlink (had not noticed him, but he didn't want alarms losing them the bonus). At this point, they also wanted the databombed agenda, but were certain the Exec with the hidden commlink was the target. They were given the titles "double-commlink" (DC) and "single-commlink" (SC). Iduno (The GM) was happy to have a title to tell them apart with.

Encrypted Agenda:
[ Spoiler ]

With one agenda in hand, they split up. Sam the sam rode with Plex, and followed DC. Once they confirmed she was following the agenda, they purchased a defuse program from Plex's contact (who rolled well enough to have one on hand), then went to the bar. Boost (troll melee/car thief adept) drove a vehicle they found in the parking lot with Trinket-Jammer (the mage) following the SC. She drove to some warehouses, Boost got turned invisible and snuck up again, and they overheard a conversation (light on details) alluding to what they were doing. Convinced they weren't being followed, the exec and bodyguard moved to the second location on their agenda. TJ and Boost followed, then decided it was either a trap or otherwise not worth following, and met the others at the bar. The next morning, they waited for the Execs to leave, and added an entry to DC's agenda 7:30 that (Saturday) night so Sam could meet posing as an executive from another corporation. They also grabbed the databombed agenda from the SC an hour later (below), and noticed a 7:30 pm agenda item at the same address they had specified. At this point, they were certain the SC was the real one.

Databombed Agenda
[ Spoiler ]

Instead of following anyone Saturday, they get dressed up nicely and prepare to drug and kidnap SC from the private meeting room. At this point I feel bad about (from my perspective) the story going from an awesome former counter-intelligence lady to a story about a lady being drugged and kidnapped. Plex and TJ are going to call the restaurant and have them send a message to SC that her meeting will be delayed, then stunball/gel-round everyone inside. This takes care of the issue of the bodyguards not drinking the drugged wine. Boost and Sam are waiting at the bar in case anything goes wrong. Iduno's face is hurting from keeping a poker face (in addition to the normal "to look at.").

I don't know the maximum post length, so I'll split this post.
Iduno
And the thrilling conclusion to the double-Executive run:

As planned, the single-commlink Exec (SC) arrives with her bodyguard, and a second bodyguard. My players correctly guess this is a mage. As planned, a server lets know there would be a 15-minute delay. Then Trinket-Jammer (TJ) drops a stunball through the open door. The mage bodyguard counterspells enough of it with an amazing roll that nobody is hurt, but all 3 in the room (and the server) know something happened, based on the 6-force perception requirement (which I pointed out). SC flips the table and takes cover while the bodyguards look around. Plex holds the door open, and looks in. They subvocalize to Sam and Boost that things are going to get rough. Sam and Boost go to pay for their drinks, then realize they can just walk away once the chaos starts (or pay if it somehow doesn't). Then TJ drops a force 10 stunball at the back of the room while SC is peeking over the table, knocking out 5 people (including the poor server and Plex), and making a decent amount of noise (anything over force 6 must be noisy, based on the perception rules). At this point, people start running back to see what happened, while the servers try to re-assure people. Boost and Sam take the opportunity, and Sam lies to the police who show up while the others drug everyone in the meeting room and get the information they need. Plex is "for some reason" unable to spoof the biomonitor as planned (they did an excellent job of planning), so more KE will be on their way shortly. Also, they note that SC doesn't have cybereyes. At this point, they are certain the two executives are both half of the equation, and other other won't have a datalock. They use a slap patch to wake Plex up (I ruled that they don't let you sleep, so he woke up temporarily), he got the information from the datalock, and they get him to the van just before he passes back out. The call the Johnson, and send the information and their doubts. The Johnson wants to wait for the rest of the information before acting on what they have. They get away with some good driving on Boost's part, and concealment from TJ's air spirit (TJ had conjured and bound an Air Spirit before the executive arrived). They aren't getting the bonus.

Sunday, they decide (I can't remember why) not to follow DC to her second meeting at the inspection site. I know they didn't know where it was (it was the only address they weren't given in the hand-outs), because they didn't follow her the first day. Instead, they wait near Ares HQ, so they can try to kidnap her while she's doing the tourist stuff Ares has prepared for her. At this point, the players are unaware of her meeting the previous night (coincidentally also at 7:30, which is why they runners' addition got passed off to SC - I had Plex's player roll for her check to notice the change, and he noticed but glitched). They have also missed out on two opportunities to notice 3 other people following DC, but are about to suspect. DC arrives back at HQ half hour late, the driver she left with is gone, there is a large bullet-hole in the windshield, and there's a KE escort. Between her ditching her security escort to go drinking the night before, the attack on SC, and the assassination attempt, the tourist time is cancelled. The runners consider rushing Ares HQ, but it's a huge complex. And heavily guarded, and they're on-guard because of the recent attacks against the execs. They make due with ordering 200 nuyen worth of pizza and sending it in. The guards know better, and send the pizza delivery person away.

They runners know they have one more shot, so they go back to the hit-and-run tactics they used back in the ambulance run. They ambush DC's car (and 2 guard cars) on the 520 bridge heading towards SeaTac (I had a Seattle map available to them, with the addresses, so they could prepare plans like this). An accident power from the Air Spirit takes out the rigged security tail following DC, and Plex uses a hack to stop the KE vehicle in the lead. Boost caught up to DC's car while dodging in and out of traffic. Another accident power is used, but the vehicle recovers before crashing. Shots are fired, doing minimal damage to DC's car, then a final Accident power crashes the vehicle. They weren't moving quickly enough to die, but everyone in the vehicle is banged up. Boost waits in the vehicle, ready to escape, TJ is out of IPs, Plex is spoofing the bio-monitor, so Sam jumps out of the van to fight (kill) both the security guard and DC. Luckily, one at a time, but he's still bleeding badly by the time the fight is over. TJ uses his final spirit service to drag Sam and the Exec into the car as the driver recovers from dump-shock enough to get a good look at Sam and fire off a (missed) shot from his pistol.

Plex grabs the data they need out of the datalock and TJ (actually very technically adept for a mage) gets the retinal scan, while they speed down the highway. They consider for a while (OOC) how to dump the body. Her cybereyes have been recording, but they don't want to take the time to erase everything, and don't want to chance it being sent back. Just dropping her onto the highway might leave evidence. I helped by asking if anyone had grenades (partly because the game had gone over 8 hours, I was hungry, and they would have gotten there anyway), which only the mage had. TJ had wanted a fireball spell, but settled for incendiary grenades instead. Everyone else only had flash-bangs. One flaming executive corpse on the highway later (and probably another month waiting for the heat to die down again), and they rode off into the sunset yet again.

At which point, someone asked about the pool of blood Sam left at the scene.

Actual Agenda (for DC, the real executive. The double's agenda was what she did, but was a series of traps.):
[ Spoiler ]

The rain actually played into the runners escapes. It's enough of a perception modifier to make get-aways easy.
Iduno
Follow-up from the Ares Executive run:
[ Spoiler ]


May 2072:
The nearest Wiccan holiday is Beltane, so the themes are planting, hoping for a good harvest, and Joy. As a challenge to myself (and because this run probably isn't that important to the plot), I told the players the previous week I'd be going with Joy. We'll see how well I do with that. I also had the idea of introducing them to a new faction (I didn't do as well as I had hoped), and allowing for social infiltration...

Your fixer has called you to a meeting at Swift's BBQ. Luckily a man named Johnson is picking up the tab.

(Note to myself: Johnson is with Independent Information Network. Nicely dressed, likes when runners asks questions.)

"I am hiring you to investigate the contents of a warehouse. We had an agent already attempt to procure this information for us, but failed. The warehouse has moved, and most likely has increased security. You will need to infiltrate Eagle Security to re-obtain this information, then check into the contents of the warehouse itself, and who owns the contents. Whatever is in the warehouse, it's a bit unusual that the megas would want it stored somewhere they aren't directly in control of, don't you think?

We'd prefer the investigation be quiet, but we understand that is not always possible. If you do need to get violent, acquire some containers of the more interesting items for me, and we'll call it a fair trade."

There were some discussions of what exact type of meat they were eating, to which the server (I didn't think to call him Jonathan) only replied "meat." Boost (The troll) was happy enough to eat real meat that he stated "I don't even care if it's troll." The mage (Trinket Jammer) balked, to which Boost replied "But I prefer to eat dwarf." I'm just assuming they caught one of this week's two dumb jokes.

The runners wait until night to go to Eagle Security HQ, a small-ish office building. It's fairly secure (no attached buildings, only the front entrance, and a 24-hour front desk leading to the rest of the building), but pretty empty at night. The group tries to send in 200 nuyen worth of pizza, the desk attendant (8 dice for judge intentions, 4 hits) thinks better of it and sends the delivery person away. The group approaches the desk expecting the Sam/face to do the face thing, but he instead does the sam thing. A few minutes into the session, and we've got an alarm, a dead civilian, and no useful information. They run to the back, Plex ducks into the first office and luckily (3 hits on an edge test) finds an office with a computer still logged in. It belongs to the scheduling manager, so it has limited but very useful information. Plex takes all of the information for recent schedules, so he can compare at his leisure for which warehouses have had changes (and more than standard security). I had prepared an email if they had more time to investigate ("We need to cover warehouse 113 anyway. It will be a good place to have the surprise as well. Friday at 6 pm?"), but plans don't survive contact with players.

Nobody comes down the stairs to respond to the alarms (it's an office, why would management risk their lives?) , but there are 2 vans of guards waiting at the door. The van is across the street. TJ makes herself and Plex invisible (and wants to make Boost invisible, but a -6 sustaining penalty is kind of huge), Sam throws down 2 smoke grenades (heavy smoke blocks vision real well), and everyone prepares for combat. Boost and Sam walk out with their hands up, Plex tells the van's pilot to drive around the block to see if it's followed, and TJ takes down the astral barrier around the building. Once they see everyone is out of the vans, Plex tells the van to do a U-turn and park between them and the guards, and Boost rushes the nearest guard with his sword. Boost takes out one guard, and gets shot by the other 7, somehow not quite being knocked out. Everyone else leaves Boost to his fate, and jump in the van. A fire spirit shows up and manifests to see who took down the astral barrier, but can't manage to see TJ just standing there. Boost's next turn is following while the guards try to shoot up the van, and TJ follows suit. The concealed armor prevents any damage as they drive away.

There is a warehouse that just received a large shipment, and it has a full dozen guards protecting it. They wisely decide to let Boost rest up, but hit the warehouse before security gets any tighter.

(My notes: The warehouse has no visible patrolling guards after 5:45 pm. They finish a patrol at 5:30, additional guards show up, and they all begin finding places to hide. There is a patrolling watcher for each building, and a patrolling Air Spirit on the astral for the complex of 4 buildings. The Air spirit spends 2 minutes in each warehouse every 10 minutes. The warehouse is automated, with an office/control room overlooking the entire warehouse.)

The runners arrive too late for the birthday surprise at 6 pm (they stated they waited until 1 am), but the guards are back to their jobs. I provide a quickly-drawn map showing the warehouse buildings being set up in groups of 4 with parking and space for trucks to load/unload around each group, and a label on building 113. TJ (the player works late, so gets some forgiveness) takes a walk through all 4 warehouses to see a watcher and a few guards in the first building; a watcher, a few guards, and the air spirit patrolling in the second; a watcher spirit and a few guards in the 3rd building; and a watcher and a dozen guards in the 4th building (113). She successfully banishes the patrolling air spirit while in the second building, because it at least buys a few rounds before the controlling mage sends back-up.

The runners sneak into the warehouse, where TJ the mage (with the worst stealth of the group) is almost immediately seen. They still have enough time to get a description of unlabeled black barrels forming 2 hallways, wired cameras, and a control center up a set of stairs. Sam responds by throwing an HE grenade between the two patrolling guards who saw them and a the nearest rack of barrels, taking the guards down and creating a puddle of strange liquid (destroyed 4 barrels, which I start to keep track of). A group of 2 guards runs up each side of the warehouse to put the 2 runners they're noticed in a pincer attack, but Boost is there to take care of one of the two coming around the back (and blocking the other). The other two guards shoot at (and barely miss) TJ. The guards are careful to only take single shots to avoid destroying the barrels, but the runners throw around narrow bursts (their guns don't allow for single shots), which ends up destroying 2 more barrels. TJ is told to levitate out one of the barrels (I said it needed to be force 4 to overcome to Object Resistance of a barrel full of weird chemicals, let me know if that's wrong), but instead casts invisibility on herself to avoid being shot more (she sorely needs a second IP, and probably at least one sustaining focus). The rest of the guards are fairly quickly cleaned up, and the runners steal 2 barrels from different parts of the warehouse (so probably different contents). Outside, a new air spirit and several guards from nearby buildings are waiting in ambush. The first runner out the door, Sam, throws a flash-bang but still takes several bullets. A second flash-bang and some assistance from TJ's air spirit and Plex's gel rounds ends the ambush, and the runners escape with the Security Air Spirit following.

They contact the Johnson, who asks if they also found out who owned the barrels. They swear, turn around, shoot the air spirit, and Plex waddles (player's words, not mine) upstairs to the control room. TJ uses her new sterilize spell to clean up Sam's newest pool of blood, and Boost gets in the driver seat of the van, ready to run away again. Sam walks around shooting the knocked out security guards or some reason. Plex also takes the time to erase the data from the cameras, and learns the barrels came from a shell corporation owned by Shiawase (Happiness is close enough to Joy, this is a dumb joke, but fits my goal of a theme for the week - the birthday surprise would also have worked if they didn't show up so late).

There was some lack of focus at the table, and more violence than expected, but I think we all learned something this week.
Iduno
After (and, as we learned at the end of the game, before) a week off, we got to have another session.

A follow-up from the previous run:
[ Spoiler ]


June, 2072:
The players learn their fixer has been having difficulties finding high-paying runs lately, due to the combination of the influx of recently laid-off Lone Star agents and a crackdown due to some of the more violent runs lately (and, of course, Knight Errant wanting to start their police contract "on the right foot."). However, there's always demand for pro-bono work from heroic(ish) runners willing(ish) to help the poor SINless. The team will be working for the squatters of Plastic Jungles. The Ares Executive run offered pay in cash or twice as much as a discount on cyber or bioware, so this run offered the players each the choice of taking their pay in not-quite toxic fruit from the Plastic Jungles and whatever they could salvage from the opposition or karma for doing a good deed. TJ (mage) and Boost (sword adept/car thief) chose the karma, while Plex (decker/rigger) and Sam (face/sam) chose loot. As the lazy GM had decided on guns and vehicles adding up to a per-determined value, and "foci/reagents to make/improve them or something?" for the magical characters, this predictability is probably for the best (although foci have costs listed in nice round numbers that take 30 seconds to go look up).

They considered it, realized they had nothing better to do, and met with the Johnson.
[ Spoiler ]


With only an idea of which direction an injured animal had last been seen coming from, the team left the Plastic Jungles and set off. To the van, to have the rigger send drones out scouting the formerly-urban wasteland full of broken buildings with plants trying desperately to reclaim anything that wasn't too polluted. I had prepared a list of animals and traps they might encounter, and the Dalmatian managed to fall into a pit trap a short walk away. The trap was designed to capture not kill, and was near a motion-detection camera and some ATV tracks. The team called their Johnson, and learned they did not set the trap, and determined there must be poachers in the area. They took out the camera and rescued the drone, then had the two drones follow the tracks. A short time later, Plex received an alarm as the Dalmatian was being hacked. He used his aerial drone to survey the area, saw nothing but a racoon riding on top of the Dalmatian, and told the hacked drone to return. It began to, then turned around again, and started driving off. He used his and Boost's comlinks to triangulate the locations of any nearby signals, and found only the drones, two more hidden cameras, and one unknown signal. Plex remembered a decker story about dolphins and other animals that could hack into things, but didn't really believe it. He jumped into the aerial drone and shot the racoon anyway, in case it was a biodrone created by some corporate experiment. The group dissected the racoon to see if there were any signs of cyber or bioware, and found none. TJ carried what was left of the corpse around as a possible meal.

With the poor defenseless Libertine (technomancer-racoon) murdered and dissected, they returned to the path created by the ATV, trying to remain on the look-out for more traps. They also decided to ignore stealth, in an attempt to draw out the poachers. This worked and were approached by 4 armed men in a Tata Hotspur. They convinced the men they were hunting for food in the polluted wasteland, and were told to quit eating poisonous foods. The leader, wearing a Hawaiian shirt and sunglasses also revealed they were taping a totally awesome hunting show with the hopes they'd get corporate backing and become rich. The players decided that was better than what they were doing, but the poachers already had a full crew. The poachers then warned them to stay away if they didn't want to get shot or eaten, flipped them off, and sped away.

Having found their quarry, Plex sent his aerial drone up to see where they were going. Another half-kilometer of walking (despite Plex's reasonable fear of physical effort), and they would be at the camp. Half of them decided on a stealth approach. While they were approaching, the scent of blood drew the attention of a Horned Bear to the invisible TJ. Seeing that the bear was sniffing in her direction, TJ decided to use the racoon corpse as bait, they left while the giant bear was enjoying the remains, and arrived near the camp. TJ used Cleansing in a clearing near the camp (about about a half dozen other locations on the trip over) to prepare an ambush. The camp was the roofless remains of a burned-out one-story building containing the trailer, a computer set-up, a few poachers, and the Hotspur from before. TJ cast invisibility on Boost, who was going to go steal the Hotspur and run. Bad rolls on the spell and Boost's stealth meant the plan fell apart pretty quickly. Boost continued running anyway (without mystic armor, due to the background count), noticed something near the entrance to the camp with his combat senses, got shot up badly while making it to the vehicle, but got in and started trying to steal it. The others shot with medium range SMGs and un-jumped-into drones, which provided a good distraction (and killed the one poacher they could see), and moved slightly closer. The smell of blood drew another horned bear (Boost noticed a dart stuck into it), which ran around destroying everything in the camp it could, starting with the truck containing a bleeding troll. The vehicle managed to be one box of damage short of destruction, and Boost successfully got it running when it critically glitched (all ones, not just half) and decided Boost was the actual owner. The other runners and drones managed to take down two more poachers, leaving the security mage alone with the enraged horned bear. While leaving, boost set off the tripwire attached to flash-bangs he had avoided earlier, deafening everyone except Sam. The runners got in the vehicle, and drove away, leaving the situation to resolve itself, while the Dalmatian followed behind them and the aerial drone continued taping.

While they were driving away in the stolen vehicle, Sam found a bag in the back containing a very nice Barrett, a customized assault rifle, some darts, and a few doses of an unknown drug (K-10) the hunters had been using to make the animals more interesting (up until that plan backfired). They returned to camp to find the mage dead, everything of value destroyed or grabbed by the crew that had been prepping the next hunt, and the bear passed out with a bloody nose, halfway through the wall of the trailer. They grabbed the aerial drone, and returned to report the job done. Back at the Jungles, Plex identified the drug as a combat drug (to which he is slightly and not-quite secretly addicted), and Boost volunteered to try it to see which kind. Plex switched it out with some of the leftover Laes while filling the needle, and and filled 2 darts with a double-dose of Laes (all they had left) and 2 with K-10 (also all they had). Boost saw through the trick, threatened to stick Plex with the needle, Plex doubled down on his lie, and managed to get to the others in time to pass out. The runners now have the 4 darts filled with drugs, no idea which is which (Plex would have figured it out if they hadn't taken them off his comatose body), and some new toys/karma.

One more adequate job that looks pretty thorough to the Johnson, thanks to the video Plex was able to get with his aerial drone, and the remains of the computer from the camp. And no remaining evidence of the runners mistreating animals.
Iduno
A follow-up from the player of Plex, the decker/rigger, entitled "Who drugged Plex? Mystery Solved!" Note: the player was at the table at the time, so he does know what actually happened. This is just for fun.

"Plex does not normally have his cyber-eyes recording, so the easy answer is out. He may change that behavior moving forward. If he was recording, the video of an angry looking troll hovering over a dwarf jabbing a needle at the dwarf would have been pretty damning.

But OOC, the following explanation and logic is pretty funny to me....

As Plex works on repairing the Hotspur he tries to sort out what happened at the end of the last run. The video from the drones (which the powers above said exists), Plex was moving about normally during the firefight at the poacher's campsite. So something happened on the way back to base-camp or at base-camp.

At some point Plex is going to realize that the stash of La`es is gone. He'll realize what he experienced (going unconscious and loss of short-term memory) was likely the effects of the now missing La`es. [Sam could tell Plex he has the Laes, but his stash will be one dose short.]

Who did it? Sam evaded answering questions. Seems he is wanting to stay out of whatever happened (or simply didn't see what happened). Plex can respect the desire to stay out of other people's dirty laundry.

Boost says that Plex injected himself with something (presumably the Laes). Plex calls bullshit on that because he'd know better than to inject himself with La`es. He rarely uses during a run and doesn't use something that results in unconsciousness and loss of memory anyways. Boost gets offended when Plex suggests that Boost is lying.

Tink tells a story involving the mage from the Poacher's campsite doing something to Plex which is refuted by the drone's videos. Tink has, during a run, mind-controlled her entire team, stun balled herself, and stun balled Plex. These incidents usually results in Plex firing a single gel round in Tink's "direction" (and once actually hitting Tink).

If Plex accepts Boost's offense at his honor and honesty being questioned, it is possible that Boost saw Plex with a needle sticking out of his leg (where there's currently a small bruise). It's possible Boost didn't see what happened leading up to it. Tink's concocted story suggests Tink is involved and gave Plex the La`es and is trying to avoid another gel round being fired in her "general direction".

Fragging Tink's friendly fire!"
Iduno
No news story to start this run; all I could find was Aztechnology not being allowed back into the NAN yet. And as my players pointed out: nobody cares much what happens with SINless squatters. Taking out some poachers who were going to try to get corporate backing doesn't get much attention either.

This run was a fun one: a character-based run for Boost the enjoyably ridiculous troll melee adept/Japan enthusiast. The player describes him as a bit goofy, and excitable.

[ Spoiler ]


And the 4 ninja:
[ Spoiler ]


First, they met with the Johnson, the leader of Boost's Warrior Way group: a viking berserker wearing only wolf pelts (all of the warriors in the group have some theme. There's also a knight in full plate, and Ken and Ryu from Street Fighter), but able to speak like a samurai (he refers to the lost fight from the Eagle Security/Shiawase job).

[ Spoiler ]


The group decided to start with some recon, as suggested by the Johnson, so they all went to the shrine under the pretense of checking out the dojo (which is the only area normally open to the public). Sam set up across the street with his new sniper rifle. I had them choose a time, and decided they went during the time the fire dojo was open. There was a practice/demonstration where the students were practicing barefoot on burning coals. Sam was given the choice of 2 buildings to snipe from: one where he could see inside the dojo, or one higher up where he could see into the courtyard, but his view of the dojo was blocked. He chose the latter. Trinket Jammer (TJ) astrally perceived enough to see the aspected background count, find out the fire ninja was a mage adept, and see the fire spirit doing overwatch. While Boost and Trinket Jammer (Troll and Dwarf; good pair) watched the demonstration, Plex decided to make a distraction to get through the guarded door to the shrine area. TJ was standing close enough to the coals to "accidentally fall in" with a bit of help from Plex. Sam's view from above helped guide Plex through the courtyard (they were on the radio to each other while leaving the other 2 in the dark), and good rolls (and all of his edge) got Plex in and out mostly undetected, completing the theft portion of the run solo and without shooting. The one time he was caught, Plex managed to talk his way out by asking for help with a friend who fell into the coals during the demonstration. Sam's Japanese heritage helped pick out what item they were to steal from the shrine. Plex announced his plan as he returned to the dojo and ordered his van to pull up to pick him up, and TJ got caught casting an invisibility spell on him. The fire spirit (force 5, but with 2 points of aspected background count) manifested, larger than Boost, and ordered TJ to end his spell. Sam provided a distraction by shooting out one of the windows of the dojo. Boost also provided a distraction by challenging the fire ninja to a duel.

They were unprepared for a duel against a mage in an aspected background count, but at least Boost could give up 2 of his 4 points of adept powers without losing too much combat utility. The spirit was not involved with the duel, and it was decided the duel would be until someone gave up, not to the death. Probably for the best, because I was worried the background count might make the fight pretty tough. Boost retrieved his sword from the van while Plex snuck out and Sam packed up his sniper rifle, and the fire ninja prepared by casting fire aura and grabbing his own sword. Once Boost got onto the coals, the arena was set up with a fire wall spell (fire spells have massive drain, and even somewhat min-maxed the fire ninja took 1 stun from each spell). The duel was very even, with both sides managing to parry every attack, until TJ got another IP and decided it would not be interfering to use cleansing. Boost managed to get a hit in with edge, and brought the ninja down (and getting burned by the flame aura for his trouble) just before the ninja was going to use the incendiary grenade trick. Boost was going to get another action, and probably finish the ninja off, so the duel was called in Boost's favor. It is requested that TJ leave and not return, for interrupting the demonstration.

Meanwhile, while leaving, Plex is caught by the bike gang who surround him and slow him down. They demand he roll down his windows and stop. He accelerates, through them if necessary, which makes them upset. He's willing to leave, so they chase him off their turf after cracking his window with a metal pipe and scuffing his new paint job with a molotov. Vans don't take damage quickly, and neither do reinforced vehicle windows. Sam decides to walk home, as he lives in the area.

While walking to the stolen motorcycle to ride back home, Boost and TJ are also held up by the go-gang. Boost specified stealing a Suzuki racing bike for the run, which worked out well when the leader arrived with a souped-up version of the same (engine modification for acceleration was the major change). The gang was dressed in leather jackets, often embroidered with club/gang logos, round sunglasses, long headbands also with battle slogans, and surgical masks. The leader is a troll with black hair, a red leather racing suit, and moose-like horns. His red racing bike has logos from Tim Hortons, CATco, and a maple syrup manufacturer. The leader decides the toll for being on the gang's turf is the motorcycle; the troll and dwarf would have to walk home (a pretty good distance). Another challenge is offered, Kanada is confident his superior bike and skills (not actually superior to an adept's skill) will win the day, and it is decided they will race for the bike. Kanada's bike has 10 running acceleration more, and every net hit on a driving test gives +5, so I determine the first racer to win an opposed driving test by 2 hits wins the race, with Kanada getting 2 "free" for the higher acceleration. A poor first roll has Kanada using his only point of edge, then the race lasts 4 more opposed tests. A close race, despite Boost not having 8 more dice to make up for the benefit that Kanada has. Eventually, Boost rolls badly, but edge gives the win! Kanada must give up his bike, and endure the loss of respect from his gang.

Fade to black, and cut to the team handing over the stolen item. The viking warrior they passed the himorogi to now passes it to the next initiate, a Roman-style warrior with a spear and shield. He tells the initiate 'You shall now learn the wisdom: "Let your plans be dark and impenetrable as night, and when you move, fall like a thunderbolt." Your task will be to plant the himorogi in the home of our enemy at the location you were provided, and show they are responsible for the attack and theft. In turning our opponents against each other, we may rest while they tire.'

I think the Warrior's Guild that Boost is part of is the greatest thing I've ever created.
Iduno
It's been...a while, but schedules worked out (it happens) and we were able to have a game session again. I think we're mostly back on track (although I probably/hopefully won't be holding the Samhain game on or near October 31). We also had a new player who was interested, a well-rounded human mage named Dealer.

This run was created using part of the Lughnasad/Lughnasadh season for a feeling (fearing the harvest wouldn't be enough for winter), and using The Sting as my influence (I also used Heat, Cowboy Bebop, and Jem in other sessions). It looks like I wrote this session up back in September, so even reading over my notes didn't quite get me back on track. I forgot about half of what I had planned, wasn't at the top of my game anyway, and the game was a bit of a let-down. It happens. Mostly, we didn't get to have enough problems to really use the edge -> flashback/retroactive set-up thing I stole from The Sting came up with, because I didn't play to Ares being overwhelming (and I still think it would come across too railroady) I'll include my full notes at the end; hopefully someone can steal something useful out of them.

On the upside, we were able to Skype in our player who left the country (Roll20 froze for them, then for me, then wouldn't let me back in, then got replaced with Skype), and my old 42" TV makes a good monitor to throw maps onto. The players were able to decide routes in and out ahead of time, and we could use floor plans to illustrate where they were.

August, 2072:
[ Spoiler ]


The team met with their new fixer, to prove themselves for future jobs (not to get him murdered by Ares). As a team new to Seattle (wink), they had to trade in their old weapons to afford new Ares-branded ones that wouldn't raise eyebrows on the run (brilliant bit of planning by Sam's player - pawn off the evidence of their previous runs on the guy they're setting up). The fixer is good at keeping distant from the action so he can keep plausible deniability of the runs he hires out (also, the dice worked in his favor), so the team wasn't able to get him to admit to hiring out other runs. They were able to get video and audio of him hiring them with Sam's eye and ear recorders. They did know of a nearby bar that Lone Star officers used to hang out at, so they decided to see if former officers operating as runners still hung out there. At the bar, they found some of the new runners, but they weren't willing to admit much until the team name dropped the fixer. With enough evidence in hand, the team gets ready for the actual run.

The team did some knowledge checks about the situation. Anyone with closely-related knowledge skills rolled below average, and everyone taking large penalties for having tangent-to-a-tangent knowledge skills rolled well, all coming out with a similar amount of knowledge (public knowledge, plus some rumors/implied information). Those results are the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th lines of the GM notes at the bottom, so I neither withheld anything or had to make/look anything else up.

Dealer, the mage that joined the team for this run (and maybe future runs), convinced KE he got transferred to the new offices as a janitor. Less work to get in than posing as a cop, and good cover to scout out the building. He was assigned a biomonitor/tracker (so the players knew I planned on using them and the KE employees without me having non-sequitur perception checks). There are two entrances to the building: the main entrance, which is the only entrance for walk-ins, and the vehicle entrance around the back, requiring a badge to enter. After weighing more people but easier to blend in (daytime) vs fewer people but more suspicion (night time), the team decided to go in at night, because that's what they always do. The new mage lets the team get in with a stolen dump truck, during the normal scheduled time. Because they took over an office building, KE's new offices are built for convenience, not security. The elevators can go to any floor, as long as you have the proper permissions, or a decker who can outsmart the elevator computer. [This was probably my biggest mistake, and allowed the run to be short-circuited. The alternative, as the players pointed out, was the old Doom-style red key to get the blue key minigame. I guess I should have gone with the entertainingly bad choice, which is how I usually live my life.]

The team, pushing the janitor cart with their parachutes, went to the middle of the building above the dispatch offices, but below the management area, to find an empty cubicle for Plex (decker) to connect. Plex managed to grab one piece of evidence before security made their rounds, the the team heard them coming up the stairs and were prepared/pretending to be a cleaning crew. Rolling randomly, they came to the two worst liars on the team, and demanded to know what they were doing. [I should have used guards with dogs; I could tell the game was near the end and Phobos and Deimos would have been fun.] They explained their way out of it just as Sam's special coffee (spiked with one of the drugged darts, chosen randomly, and containing Laes) was ready. Sam is a good enough face to convince them to drink, and they passed out shortly thereafter. They decided they had enough to pin on KE, and got out before anyone came to check on the biomonitors.

Plex got the elevator to take them to the roof, but failed to get the doors to open without an alarm. Luckily, they brought a troll, and the doors were convinced to open. Trinket-Jammer used shape metal to seal the doors to the stairway while Boost (the troll) broke the elevator to slow down the security guards. Dealer's pet fire elemental was ready to set off all of the ammunition in the anti-air flak cannons on the roof, while Plex got ready to fly the helicopter Dealer had spent edge to have waiting for their escape. They all pack in and take off as the searchlight from a KE helicopter shows up at the building demanding they land. [Sam's player also suggested helicopters, or a helicopter dog fight] Runners definetly like following instructions, especially when they're fleeing the scene of the crime, so...flak cannon ammo explodes, building starts on fire, a lightning bolt hits the enemy helicopter (electrical attacks are not good for auto-pilot vehicles, but helicopters can recover and land safely), they aim the helicopter at the DOT building (it was their transportation) and parachute out. Then they notice the police gathering below them to arrest them when they land their parachutes. A few overcast stunballs later, Plex's remotely-ordered van pulls up, and everyone still standing realizes how the arrest is going to go. Knowing the police cars are massively faster than the van, they go hide instead of leading KE to the fixer. Instead, they sell the paydata to some Pirate Trid contacts and mail a datachip with the video of the fixer to KE...after editing the already damning evidence to include an order to cause mayhem with the helicopter, and almost failing the edit test even with edge.


GM Notes:
[ Spoiler ]
Iduno
We start September 2072 with the follow-up.

[ Spoiler ]


Then, the set-up:

[ Spoiler ]


The players asked some pointed questions out of character. I think they're starting to see the plot coming together. "So, do we know who we're working for? Do we trust them to have power." "Do you have any kind of corporate knowledge to identify the Johnson?" Nope. Probably nope to all of the questions. Although the last run for this Johnson involved them not caring that an Ares Exec and body double got killed, so...probably not working for Ares. "So the therapy would let us go below zero essence without becoming a cyberzombie?" "It will let you install more than 6 essence of 'ware without becoming a corpse." Yeah, I'm expecting someone to have put it all together, or at least have a very short list of which corp they're working for and what they want.

The run: Trinket-Jammer (TJ, or Trink, as the others now call her) knows some mages, and her contacts at the University do as well. They can put the team in contact with a druid who knows Invoking and the rest of the month can be spent looking for another mage, or they can recommend a part of the glow where a nuclear mage probably knows both metamagics. The players choose the smart option instead of the fun one, and they head off into the woods instead of walking into a nuclear wasteland.

When they arrive at the druid's clearing, a large ceremony is going on. The players choose to wait so they don't interrupt the ceremony. They hear a scream as someone is sacrificed, and they wait. Then a large leafless tree (spirit) starts to grow into the form of a large Sangre del Diablo, and points/screams angrily at the intruders. Still nothing. I swear, it's like they just don't want to get murdered by spirits this session. The druids come to find out what the players are doing, so Sam (with help from TJ) explains. The druid reads the contract in the datachip, and as the players waited politely, agrees on the condition that while he is doing their work, they do his. They just need to interfere with an industrial corp in town that's been giving his woods trouble. The giant angry tree spirit will probably add some protection to the woods as well. TJ also asks if he knows anyone with the Corruption metamagic. He seems embarrassed, the players know they've got something, and a quick negotiation gets them the location of a druid who was kicked out of the circle for researching forbidden magic. Then TJ tries to negotiate for receiving payment in reagents for doing the run. The negotiation comes out in favor of the druid, and the price is now 500 nuyen and a favor. Sam steps in, and they return to the original price.

The players decide the location is "the next willow over, then knock on the oak." So I guess the travel portion was pretty short.

The toxic mage doesn't have any giant murder spirits hanging around materialized, but he does refuse to speak with them until the unnatural vehicles leave (probably best he didn't try to read what's left of Sam's aura). Sam tries to argue, the mage starts walking away, but Boost and Plex drive away. While his agent goes through the contract, the mage asks how they found him. They try to lie, very badly, so he asks what was asked of them in return. They never really tell him, but he does know enough about his mentor to have a guess. He agrees, if they add one twist to the druid's favor. They are given a magical stick, which he will use to cast a spell (except I guess anchoring doesn't exist anymore, and pre-made spell items don't exist until sr5. Whatever, nobody tell my players.) during their run. They don't see any issue with that, so it's a deal.

And with that, a run is finally completed without shots fired. And next month, we get to see what the mages want the players to do, and what Samhain trouble the players can cause. Almost certainly unrelated...right?

[ Spoiler ]
ZeroSpace
Just throwing in a guess of my own, is it Aztechnology?
Iduno
@ZeroSpace Nope, more information was in a PM.

It looks like I never posted this run. It was just a quick one-off for Halloween 2072. I am noticing the plot skeleton I used front-loaded the non-plot runs way too much, and I'm running short of non-plot things that fit. At least it was a pretty good time. Anyway, the follow-up from last time:

[ Spoiler ]


[ Spoiler ]


They did choose pretty good costumes.
Sam: 2 dwarves stacked on top of each other in a trench coat. Plex set it up so the face in his abdomen could talk.
Plex: A troll (specifically Boost) with a sword made out of a broomstick. Said "dude" a lot.
TJ the dwarf: Used shape metal to make a sheet metal elf torso and head to wear on his shoulders. There was a discussion of what a Kuato is, because his real face was torso-height on the metal elf. I can't remember for sure, but I think he went as Sam.

It was a one-off run, so I just prepared some scenes to work on my "winging it" skills. This is as good an idea as it sounds, but it's also necessary to do.

The characters started by hanging out at the bar with the Ork Samurai who I should probably have named by now. He was otherwise alone, because their decker was temporarily in jail after getting caught with illegal merchandise between runs, and their shaman had "taken a bunch of peyote and wandered off again." The music at the bar was loud, and just sitting there drinking is uninteresting, especially for 4 runners. So they started wandering around downtown, talking about their runs over the past year. The ork showed off a hidden back entrance to the Aztech pyramid, with a warning that it would probably be watched more now that it had been recently used. The players talked about using a trash truck to sneak into KE, with the same warning. A few other runs were mentioned on each side, including me finally mentioning the helicopter from the first run follow-up. It was the get-away vehicle.

While they were wandering and talking, they had 3 encounters that I just realized should have been a stupid joke about the ghosts Scrooge met. First was a Sasquatch in a gorilla mask. It invited them to come eat with it, but backed off when it noticed the real chrome and weapons they had. Second was a quick fight against some prospective Ancients who needed to prove themselves. 1 real gang member, and 5 who were being tested. The fight was as one-sided as you'd expect, and they just left the bodies (1 was only KO'd). Third was a small group of people walking strangely, possibly drunk, wearing week-or-so-old/dirty clothing instead of costumes, in the area of the off-screen run for the druids. The players didn't take the obvious bait, so I didn't get to run Shedim zombies for Halloween. After that, we all ran out of ideas, and the session just kind of ended.

Another (hopefully actually good) run coming up soon.
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